Apparatus for and process of distilling oils



.April 10, 192s. 1,665,542

C. B. BUERGER APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF DISTILLING OILS Filed Aug. 28, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet i affozucq April 19,1928. I 1,666,042 v c. B. BUERGER APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF DISTILLING OILS FiledAu g. 28, 1923 O 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3:913 Owns: 550A1MR Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

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GHABLES B. BUERGER, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO GULF FIN- ING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,' A. CORPORATION OF T APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF DISTILLING OILS.

Application filed August 98,1923. Serial No. 659,823.

This invention relates to apparatus for and processes of distilling oils; and'it comprises a. distilling apparatus comprising a horizontal cylindrical still body, means for.

heating such a body, means for removing vapors, meansforieeding oil at one end and for removing oil at the other, internal means adapted to block out aportion of the chamber space and form arcuate uptake passage ways next the wall in the lower portion of the body and a downtake passage way near the middle and perforated steam pipes withinsaid arcuate passages; and it also comprises a method of distilling lubril5 eating and other oils with avoidance or diminution of cracking wherein the oil to be distilled is'caused to traverse a horizontal heated zone, passingfrom end to end therein with a forced up-and-down cyclic circulation by injected steam during its travel said steam passing next the heated elements and a consequent helical progression; all as more fully hereinafter set forth and as claimed.

2 As has long been known, relatively heavy petroleum oils can be distilled in the ordinary types of fire heated still with the aid of injected steam at temperatures at which they would otherwise not boil or distil; and

8 in practice, lubricating oils, wax oils, etc.,

are customarily so produced. The effect of the steam is, theoretically, much the same as that of a vacuum in so far as a reduction of the boiling point or distilling temperature is concerned.

In steam distillation of this type, the function of the steam is to reduce the boiling point and give increased area of evaporating surface (in the bubbles) and dilute and carry forward the evolved oil vapors.

It also serves as .an agitating and circulating means. Ordinarily, the oil is containedin an externally heated still and the steam is delivered from perforated pipes near its bottom. Often-the still takes the form of a only exercised locally at the points where it rises through the oil and the rest of the oil is not affected by thesteam until circulation brings it into its path. In this circulation the oil passes alon the walls of the still and as is there heated and thence goes into the path of the steam where evaporation is effected.

vThe steam does not rise in a path near the walls. The oil elsewhere is, so to speak, idle.

cent bodies of oil, subjected to heat but not to agitation, become overheated, and deteriorate in quality.

In the present invention, these conditions are recognized. The horizontal cylindrical still is used because of its mechanical strength and convenience and because of the ample vapor space offered in its upper portion above the normal oil level, but a large part of the space. in the bottom, which would otherwise be occupied by oil out of the direct path of the steam, is blocked out by a special liner; usually hollow and of sheet metal. The liner is spacedsomewhat away from the still wall to given quadrantshaped. oil chamber therebetween on each side and perforated steam pipes are located therein. The effect of admitting steam is, of course, to project oil upwardly in these chambers or ;passages, which are usually rather narrow (of greater height than width); and to return this oil and to ob 1:

tain positive circulation, the liner is provided with a vertical middle passage, or passages, leading to the bottom of the still. The efiect of this is to give a cyclic circulation of the oil to be distilled. It is convenient tomake theliner of two parts, separating them by a comparatively narrow passage'along the middle line.

Ordinarily, I desire to have the still continuously operating, feeding oil to be distilled at one end and removing residual oil atthe other. In so doing, underthepres.

cnt invention, since the oil (considered as a main body) is traveling longitudinally of the still and since there is also a cyclic up-and-down circulation of the oilin its ,progress,--the net effect is a helical passage of the oil from end to end of the still. This much contributes to the efi'ectiveness of the steam distillation; so to speak, it permits .of a precise treatment of t e oil, combining the positive longitudinal feed of the oil through the narrow tubular types of still with the convenience of the open and unobstructed vapor chamber of a tit) cylindrical shell still. The main body-of oil passin through the still is subjected to a vertica cyclic circulation by means of the injected steam. The contact of-steam and oil is positive and effective; and there is effective utilization of both of the evaporative and the circulatory functions of the introduced steam.

In the accompanying illustration, I have shown, more or less diagrammatically, certain apparatus; within the present invention -Depending within the housing is still 2,

shown as a horizontal cylindrical shell still made, as usual, of boiler plate or the like. The housing engages and supports the still in the usual way, along its middle line, leaving the lower portion exposed to the fire gases in the housing. As shown, within the still is located a liner below the normal oil level shown and therefore'submerged in the oil in the still. As shown, this liner is composed of two sections 3 and 4 made of sheet steel and hollow, these sections being of generally triangular section and each having a curved outer surface 5, conforming in curvature to the curvature of the shell but located a suflicient distance therefrom to furnish a uadrant shaped passage 6 on one side of eac section of the liner. The liners or s acers are positioned by means of the turn uckles 6 and the links 6 in the still. .These quadrant shaped chambers afiord free communication between the oil above the liner and the bottom of the still. Within each of the quadrant shaped passages are located a plurality of perforated steam pipes 7 for admittin steam to the oil, these pipes extending the ength of the still. Between the-liner sections 3 and 42 is a vertical downtake passage-8 of suficient width to permit free circulation of oil. Oil to be distilled enters one end of the still (see Fig. 2) throu h inlet pipe 9 and residual oil leaves the ot er end of the still through exit pipe 10. The two pipes are so arran ed as to preserve a normal oil level somew at above the displacement chamber or liner. Va ors leave the still to go to a condenser l not shown) through exit pipes l1. Clean-out manholes 12 and draina e pipe 13 are of the usual structure and or the usual pur poses.

In the use of the structure shown and described, oil to be distilled enters continuously through the pipe line to submerge the efiectivecontact of steam and oil.

surfaces, and means for introducin reeaoaa liners to the normal oil level shown. Steam is admitted through pipes 7 and rises in the quadrant shaped passages along the'heated walls, producing a violent circulation and The heat necessary for distillationis'aflorded by the firing means 1. through the quadrant shaped passages flows over the top of the liner and downwardly through down-take 8 in cyclic circulation. Residual oil is finally discharged through The oil carried upward- 10. A cyclic up-and-down circulation being superimposed upon the forward movement of the oil through the still, the net reprising a horizontally disposed cylindrical shellymeans for introducing oil at one end thereof, means at the opposite end for permitting the removal of oil,,1neans disposed in the lower portion of the shell and blocking out a major portion of the volume thereof for forming longitudinal passages for the oil as it travels through the shell, said means comprising members having a continuous solid outer surface impermeable to the oil and being spaced from the lower wall of the shell, and means for admitting steam to the space between the shell wall and the members.

2. A steam still for etroleum oils comprising a horizontally isposedv cylindrical shell, means for introducing oil at one end thereof, means at the o posite end for removing the oil, means or blocking out a substantial portion of the lower part of the lie shell, said blocking out means comprisin spaced members extending longitudinally o the shell, spaced from the bottom and sides thereof, and having continuous imperforate steam to the sides and bottom of the shel inthe space between the shell and the blocking out members.

3. A steam still for petroleum oils comprising a cylindrical shell, means for admitjacent the arcuate face and at right angles we to each other, and a steam pipe for admitting steam to the space between the curved face of the blocking out means and the wall of the shell. I

4. A steam still for petroleum oils comprising a horizontally disposed cylindrical shell, means for ap lying heat to substantially the lower halt thereof, means for introducing oil at one end of the still, means for removing oil from the opposite end, a main pipe for introducing steam to the still, branch pipes formed with apertures therein disposed along the curved lower wall of the still at opposite sides thereof and connected to the main pipe, quadrant-shaped members disposed within the still, each member having a curved wall slightly spaced from the wall of the shell and extending from adjacent the vertical center plane of the shell to adjacent the horizontal center plane thereof, and also having continuous plane walls extending parallel to the vertical and horizontal center planes respectively, the entire member being close-d against the entrance of oil.

5. In the distillation of oils, the process which comprises forming a plurality of thin annular parallel bodies of oil flowing in' a closed ring, the adjacent bodies having a common portion, heating the bodies on one side to cause an upward circulating flow, as-

sisting the flow by applying a jet of steam acting in the same circular direction, and maintaining the rotary flow thus developed in the bodies at substantially the same rate of speed at all portions thereof to prevent the settling of carbon from the oil, and superimposing upon the annular flow a longitudinal flow, whereby all parts of the entire body' of oil will be constantly moved at substantially the same speed and without the formation of local portions of relatively quiescent oil.

6. In distilling oils, the process which comprises passin cylindrical shell in a longitudinal direction with respect .to the shell as a whole, dividing the oil in the shell into a plurality of annular bodies of oil flowing in a closed ring, said bodies being thin as compared to the diameter of the -annulus, heating the annular portions at that region which contacts with the cylindrical wall of the shell, applying steam'to the bodies to cause their rotation in a direction transverse to the longitudinal flow of the oil in the shell, and malntainin the circular flow thus induced at a high speed in all portions of the bodyof oil.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

CHARLES B. BUERGER.

a body of oil through a 

